There is a continuous need for materials and methods which simplify home improvement projects of all types, and which improve the results of such projects. One area of home improvement that tends to be fairly complicated, due to limits on space, the large size of the completed structure and the need to accommodate incoming and draining water, is the upgrading of baths and showers.
There have been a variety of products offered to simplify installation and/or improve integrity of upgraded showers and baths. Such products generally involve materials to be used to substantially replace all or part of existing showers and baths, or materials to be applied to or combined with existing showers and baths (e.g., “shower inserts” or “bath inserts”, which are generally mounted on and combined with existing structures).
By avoiding the need to remove all or large parts of existing showers and baths, a significant amount of labor can be avoided. In addition, parts of the existing showers and baths can provide support for inserts, and/or parts of the elements which cooperate with the existing showers and baths (e.g., drain structures, etc.) can be re-used for the inserts.
However, the mounting of inserts on existing structures is still time consuming, and there are frequently problems with the integrity of the finished product (e.g., leakage from connections between the existing drain and the new drain on the insert). In addition, in many instances, holes are drilled in the insert during installation, thereby detracting from the integrity and wholeness of the insert, and typically further increasing the risk for, or the extent of, water leakage.
There is, accordingly, an ongoing need for assemblies for mounting shower and bath inserts in existing showers and baths, which are effective to simplify the mounting of such inserts, and which result in a finished structure which has improved integrity. There is also an ongoing need for methods of mounting shower and bath inserts which are simpler and which result in a finished structure which has improved integrity.